As the die becomes cast for the next wave of superhero movies e.g. Green Lantern, Thor, Captain America, none of the news surrounding these films has been as epic as the announcement that Joss Whedon would not only be directing The Avengers but also polishing the script as well as possibly doing re-writes on Captain America. As a long time fan of Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer epic as well as Angel and Serenity, my first reaction was of complete joy. Clearly Whedon understands this material as well as having a healthy respect for the fans and what they expect from these movies. With him in the driver’s seat how could we fail?
Then I really started to think about it and doubts began to creep into my mind. One of the reasons I didn’t jump on the bandwagon and write an article like this as soon as the news broke was that I wanted time to let it simmer. So I did, I let the entire idea of Joss Whedon directing The Avengers movie sink in and fester in my brain. By the end of the weekend it became clear to me that choosing Whedon was on one side a masterful stroke and on the other a gamble that is way too high. I think the movie folks jumped the gun in assigning Whedon the task of directing The Avengers. However before getting into that, let’s look at the good side of Whedon’s involvement.
Most of the superhero movies we’ve seen have suffered from one thing, a script that’s either decent (Iron Man, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk) or downright awful (Ghost Rider, Spider-Man 3, Daredevil). Outside of the two Chris Nolan Batman movies nobody has been able to really crack the ideology of these heroes outside of a basic video game shock-and-awe way. Whedon is exactly the man who can get inside these characters and bring them to the screen the way they were meant to be. Let’s not forget that Whedon brought us a run on the Astonishing X-Men comic that is still unparalleled as well as various other comic scripts that have yet to be compared to on a writing level.
When you write a superhero movie it’s not enough to know names, places, people and events, you have to understand the mythology, you have to know the characters and why they do what they do. Take a solid movie script like Iron Man, which gets the audience from point A to point B with great action and humor but with no real understanding of who Tony Stark is. Why him? What drives Tony Stark above all others to do this? Nothing like that is really addressed and thus it never really got us inside Stark’s head. Whedon is a master of that, most of his stuff works because of how well rounded his characters are, how much of what makes them tick we’re allowed to see.
That type of script is a must for a movie like Captain America, a character where so much of what he does rests on who he is. With no understanding of his mythology, Captain America will fail as a movie and as a franchise. Bringing Whedon in to make sure that doesn’t happen is the smartest move the studio could’ve made. Same for The Avengers because if Serenity proved anything to us, it’s that Whedon can write a team dynamic that makes you care for everybody almost equally. He also is able to write each character with a unique voice, a unique set of strengths and weaknesses and somehow also managed to avoid making Serenity the “Guy And His Team” type of show. That will really come in handy with The Avengers who need to be seen as a strong team together and not focus on Iron Man, Captain America or Thor.
Now for those saying Whedon has only proven himself writing for TV let me be the first to correct that mistake. Before Buffy or Serenity made him a famous, Whedon made quite a name for himself as a major script-doctor. He was the guy you went to who could make a bad script good or a good script great. Not with small indie films either, Whedon cut his teeth on films like Toy Story and Speed. It’s obvious that Whedon can take whatever wham bang cartoon script currently submitted for Captain America and The Avengers and turn it into cinematic gold.
Where trouble starts to enter paradise is the idea of Whedon directing something as massive as The Avengers. Don’t get me wrong, I know Whedon can direct on a small scale but I just don’t trust he’s ready for an epic. There are three main reasons I can’t see Whedon bringing The Avengers to the big screen and most of them tie up with experience. The Avengers is not a movie you can learn on, it’s not a film you can figure out as you go, The Avengers is a film where even a seasoned veteran of a mammoth production could be taxed to his limits. So far Whedon has done nothing that proves he can handle that kind of pressure.
First off let’s look at Serenity, Whedon’s big screen tie up for his cancelled show Firefly. While the movie wasn’t a failure it really wasn’t a movie either. At no point did you feel that epic idea of something made for the big screen. For the most part Serenity felt like a made for TV movie that happened to get a theatrical release. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way, I liked Serenity, but it didn’t feel like a movie. The Avengers has to look like something you need to see on the big screen, it has to crackle to involve bigger than life action and thus far I haven’t seen Whedon do anything like that. Sure, the man can put together a killer fistfight but look back at his track record, what there says that he can guide Captain America fighting an army, Iron Man in a shoot out with massive robots or Thor wielding his hammer like a God. Doesn’t that all sound a bit monumental for Whedon’s proven skill set?
Another problem I see is actually something born from Whedon’s greatest strength, his ability gets very close and personal with his characters. That may work for The Avengers script and it might work for episodic television where you have months to develop a story arc but for a major action movie it won’t fly. If The Avengers becomes some super emotive “feelings” movie nobody will care. The balancing act here of action and character is a tough one and I can really see Whedon falling too far onto the character side of the fence. I hate to say it but even the testosterone level on The Avengers might be hard for Whedon to deal with. All of his shows have a serious lack of testosterone even when it was a mostly male cast. Angel was always brooding and sensitive and even though they were hardened sky pirates the crew from Serenity were an awfully sweet bunch of guys.
Whedon might be able to pull off the brooding thing a bit with Thor but only if he can temper it with a massive ability to kick ass. As for Captain America, I’ve never seen anything Whedon’s been involved in that translates to a high-octane super soldier or even less an egotistical sonofabitch like Tony Stark/Iron Man. In short, if Whedon directs this film with his usual super personal, brooding, sensitive style it won’t feel right. It’ll feel more like Joss Whedon’s interpretation of The Avengers as opposed to a true telling of the story we all love. Even if the film is taken from The Ultimates comic run as opposed to the Jack Kirby & Stan Lee original story the problems for Whedon remain the same.
The third issue comes with Whedon’s ability to deal with the egos involved in a film like The Avengers. Whedon’s Serenity was a gift not only to him but also the actors involved. Everybody on that movie wanted to be there and was committed to seeing Whedon’s vision realized. They were there for the project, not money or screen time and to direct something like that, while not easy, isn’t what The Avengers will be. The director who takes on The Avengers will have to control the egos of veterans like Robert Downey Jr and Samuel L Jackson as well as newcomers like Chris Evans (Captain America) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor). The veterans will want a certain amount of the film to go their way while the two new comers will be riding high on the (hopeful) success of their individual movies. Whether they admit or not each one of these actors will believe that without them there is no movie.
If Whedon can’t control those egos he’ll start bending to what they want and that will fracture the movie into several vignettes about individual characters instead of a cohesive film about a superhero team. Adding to that pressure this is a gigantic tent-pole film for the studio so all eyes will be on Whedon and the production. Serenity probably wasn’t big on the radar of the studio but The Avengers will be micro-managed to death. Every two-bit idiot, bean counter and executive will have “notes” and “ideas” on improving the film. There are only a handful of directors able to tell the studios to go screw themselves or even to keep from being pushed around by them and I don’t see Whedon as one of them. If that happens, you get an ego filled vignette saturated movie that’s directed by a committee of studio honchos who’ve never read a comic book in their lives.
Whedon also has a habit of second guessing himself, which could add to the studios ability to run rough shot over him. The director helming The Avengers has to be committed to his vision, understand exactly what the movie needs to work and hold steadfast to that idea. Whedon hasn’t proven to me he can do that, at least not now. As I said I think the man could become a fine director given a few smaller films and maybe a decent size movie down the road but to use him to bring The Avengers to life feels like the wrong move.
To be honest I think Whedon would do a much better job bringing the Spider-Man reboot to life. Think about it, a film about a misunderstood young person who is thrust into the world of being a hero while still having to deal with the normal pit falls of teenage life. To me that seems like a movie Whedon would excel at directing, even the one on one fights are more along the lines of his talents than epic multi-person battling. Whedon could really bring out the best in those characters and give some validity to a reboot that seems more and more like a quick-cash move to try and launch another tween phenomenon like Twilight.
Realistically what it all comes down to is a feeling, an educated guess based on how long I’ve been a Joss Whedon fan. It’s hard to say that somebody you respect isn’t right for a job you wish they were perfect for but I have to be honest, Whedon faces too many dilemmas for me to feel that’s the he’s the strongest choice. Could he overcome these issues? Sure, he could step onto The Avengers set and control the entire thing into the best comic book movie ever made but I doubt it.
I haven’t see anything that proves Whedon can pull this off and that makes the risk too great. I believe in my heart Whedon can create a script for The Avengers movie that will kill but I simply don’t think he’s the man to direct it. I’d hate to see Whedon’s amazing reputation tarnished simply because he rushed into a film he was excited about but not ready to bring to life.
